I CAN’T BELIEVE I WENT SO LONG WITHOUT HAVING THIS CAKE IN MY LIFE.

Strawberry Shortcake has always been my favorite dessert, but in the six years since I was diagnosed with Celiac, I’ve never been able to find gluten free Angel Food Cake.

Trust me, I searched for it.

Scouring the websites of gluten free bakeries, digging through the specialty foods sections of countless grocery stores, interrogating gluten free bakers at farmers markets – but, alas, my dream of ever eating my favorite dessert again grew more and more unlikely with each failed quest.

Then a couple of days ago, when the sun was shining for the first time in weeks and the strawberries we planted on our balcony started ripening, a particularly strong craving came over me. I had a realization – the whole reason I started Champagne for Breakfast was because I knew I couldn’t rely on other people to make my favorite foods safely gluten free while still maintaining the best taste and texture. I understood all those years ago that it was up to me to make my gluten free food dreams come true. So if I wanted Strawberry Shortcake, I was going to have to make it myself.

Which is exactly what I did!

This recipe definitely takes more effort and attention than any other cake I’ve made. The fluffiness of the eggs makes a big difference in the end product, and they can be unpredictable. I found that room temperature egg whites and a high speed hand mixer seemed to do the trick.

Finally, the days of woefully longing for the best dessert on the planet are behind me. I look forward to a brighter future involving a lot of Strawberry Shortcake.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups of gluten free cup-for-cup flour (Bob’s Red Mill is my favorite)
• 3/4 cups of powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup of cornstarch
• 10 egg whites (room temperature)
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF
2. Mix the flour, powdered sugar, and cornstarch together thoroughly and set aside
3. In a large mixing bowl, whip the egg whites with a hand mixer (or a stand mixer, but I don’t have one of those) until they start to get foamy
4. Add the salt, cream of tartar, and vanilla and almond extracts
5. Keep whipping the egg mixture on high speed and slowly add the granulated sugar
6. Once the egg and sugar mixture is a whipped cream kind of thickness, gently fold in the dry ingredients. Stir just enough to mix it all evenly but without letting the eggs loose their fluffiness
7. Pour the batter into a bundt cake pan and bake for 35 minutes
8. Allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the pan and serving – otherwise it will fall apart. When it’s ready to dish up, slice a wedge and serve with sugared strawberries and whipped cream!